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Mark Agnew

The Spartan World Championship starts tomorrow in Lake Tahoe, California.
Hong Kong has two teams of three – a men’s and a women’s team – vying to improve on their position of 23 out of 27 last year. This year, competition will be stiffer with over 50 teams taking part, but one thing is for sure, the course will be as gruelling as ever.
The organisers have now released the list of obstacles.

Spartan World Championship: Hong Kong’s first men’s and women’s teams hope to raise bar in Lake Tahoe
1. Over Wall
Self-explanatory, competitors will vault walls.


2. Hurdles
Similar to the walls, but just a bar so it is harder to gain purchase with your feet.


3. Hercules Hoist
Using a pulley system, Spartans heave a heavy weight up to a high frame.


4. Inverted Wall
This wall is at an angle, so Spartans have to use all their strength to surmount the overhang.


5. Swim
There is a very famous lake next to the course – it would seem silly not to send the Spartans splashing into it.


6. Bucket Brigade
Participants have to fill their own buckets with gravel, then carry it up a hill.


7. Plate Drag
Spartans sit down and drag a weighted plate along the ground.


8. Atlas Lift
They will not quite be asked to hold up the sky like the Greek titan Atlas, but they will carry a massive concrete ball that will feel just as heavy.


9. Barbed Wire Crawl
Face down in the dirt, the racers will crawl underneath a criss-cross of barbed wire.


10. Rolling Mud/Dunk Walls
Up over a mound of earth then into a muddy pit, over and over and over they go.


11. Slip Wall
Spartans climb a wall with the help of a rope. There is little else to gain purchase, so the possibility of sliding back to earth is high.


12. Farmer’s Log Carry
Farmers tend not to carry logs, but apparently they did in ancient Greece.


13. Sandbag Carry
The carrying of sandbag seems not to warrant being attributed to a specific manual labour job like those log-carrying farmers.


14. Wall
More walls. Did president Trump have a hand in designing this course?


15. Spear throw
The competitors have one chance to impale a spear in a hay bale, or face the punishment of 30 burpees.


16. Twister
It’s like monkey bars, but the bar you hang off moves and rotates adding to the upper body strain.


17. The Armer
There seemed to be no explanation for this mysterious obstacle. It has appeared before, but people seem unable to agree on what it is: it could be another carrying obstacle, with a heavy ball on the end of a chain.
18. Sandbag carry
These Spartans are the guys to call in the event of a flood.
19. Wall
Good fences make good neighbours. Pray your neighbour isn’t a Spartan, because your flimsy fence will not keep them out.
20. Vertical Cargo Plus
Climbing straight up on a cargo net is no easy task, but while it shakes with the weight of the other racers it can be a nightmare. Spartan’s will be holding their breath to find out what the “plus” entails.


21. Wall
Up and over they go, again.
22. Hurdles 2
A repeat from one of the earlier obstacles, only this time they will be knackered.
23. Olympus
Spartans use rock climbing holds, holes and hanging chains to crab long along a wall without touching the ground.


24. Craft A-frame Cargo
Competitors will pull their way up another cargo net, but this time it is at an angle.


25. Rope Climb
With their arms burning, the Spartans will muster the strength to pull themselves up a hanging rope until they can ring the bell at the top.


26. Tyrolean Traverse
The Spartans will hang like a sloth on a long taut rope as they make their way across open ground.


27. Ape Hanger
Similar to monkey bars, but instead of solid bars, competitors hang from a swinging rope ladder parallel to the ground.


28. Yokohama Tire Flip
Each competitor will have to lift a huge tractor tire (why isn’t this one called “farmer”?) over and over to get from A to B.


29. Monkey with a twist
Who knows what the twist means, but monkey bars are normally solid bars that see Spartans swing from one to the other.


30. Z Walls
Spartans will traverse along the wall, using rock climbing holds to get across without touching the ground.


31. Stairway To Sparta
Another large wall, only this time they have the aid of a rope to reach the top.


32. Wall
Another flat face for them to clamber over.
33. Bender
Spartans have to pull themselves up through a series of bars, each one of which is higher than the last.


34. Multi-rig
The competitors finish swinging by their hands, but each grip is different. They can hang from bars, rings, small hanging balls or swaying pipes.




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Spartan World Championship 2018: what obstacles must competitors face in Lake Tahoe?

Bernard Lee is taking part in the Spartan World Championship 2018, representing Hong Kong. Photo: Spartan Race

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The organisers have released the gruelling list filled with heavy carries, nimble hangs, muddy crawls and lots of walls


Spartan World Championship 2018: what obstacles must competitors face in Lake Tahoe?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The organisers have released the gruelling list filled with heavy carries, nimble hangs, muddy crawls and lots of walls

The organisers have released the gruelling list filled with heavy carries, nimble hangs, muddy crawls and lots of walls